“Oh, because that way guests are less likely to wander in.”
“How so?”
He beamed. “You’re standing in the reception room of the bed and breakfast. I want to keep the kitchen off-limits. I’m going for glamping with real beds and AC instead of an Airbnb with roommates.”
His whole face lit up. The excitement in his voice, the way his green eyes practically glowed—he went from pretty to straight-up gorgeous in an instant.
“Did you see that?” Jasper asked, dancing around me with a shovel in his hands. We’d been out here for at least two hours, and I was about beat.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about him doing what amounted to a pole dance—only because the shorts he’d been wearing earlier would’ve made for a better view. At some point, I was going to have to tell him he wasn’t the only queer guy around here. But now it would feel weird to spring it on him. If I just blurted it out, he’d think I was hitting on him.
Odds were low that I was his type anyway. Jasper was loud, outgoing, and bright. I had no idea what the hell he was doing in Comfort. This was as small-town as it got. Sure, we had our fair share of queer folks, but they were the antique kind—like Bert and Faust—or cowboy type like me. Glittery wasn’t the norm.
“Where are you from originally?”
“Almstead Island, Washington.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s not too far from Seattle. Most of Dad’s family is still up there, but we have a few relatives on my mom’s side down here.”
“Big move for you?”
I was desperate to get him talking again. If that meant interrogating him about his family, I’d do what needed to be done. While we worked, I hadn’t been able to listen to him—I’d needed to focus. I appreciated that he wanted to help, but honestly, he wasn’t much help at all. Eventually, we agreed he’d hand me tools instead of trying to operate the post-hole digger. It wasn’t a big deal to come help with the fence when he needed it.
I used to do it for Sissy when she still had animals. She’d gotten sicker over the last few years and had gotten rid of them all, which made me wonder where Jasper had found his ladies. I tucked that question away for later.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t doing anything important up there, so I figured I might as well take the chance Sissy gave me.”
“And that chance was…a bed and breakfast?”
“Well, technically, the chance was the house and some cash. Not a lot, but enough that if I do most of the work myself and get open as fast as possible, I might make it work. The place has good bones. Even sick, Sissy took good care of it. It’s mostly cleaning out the bedrooms and rearranging things.”
“Sissy talked about turning this place into a B&B for years, but I don’t think she liked people enough to do more than talk about it.”
“I kinda got that vibe from her. But when she sent me pictures of the place, I knew exactly what I’d do with it. I think, at some point, it must’ve been built for a big family or maybe as a bunkhouse. All the bedrooms have bathrooms attached.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that. How many bedrooms are upstairs?”
“Eight, including what’ll be two double suites.”
The afternoon Texas sun beat down on us, and I was glad I’d thought to grab an extra hat from my truck so he wouldn’t fry his face. Even so, his cheeks were turning a deep pink, and his freckles stood out even more. I was surprised he’d stayed out here the whole afternoon instead of finding an excuse to head back inside. The only time he left was to grab a thermos of ice water and bring it back for us.
“All right, I think that’s the last of it. Your ladies should stay inside after this.”
Jasper looked doubtful. “I’m not sure there’s a fence in existence that can promise to keep goats in, but we’re gonna hope.”
He jumped up from the ground and brushed the dirt off his ass. This part of the yard was mostly clover and grass, so I wasn’t as worried about fire ants getting him. I hated those fuckers. He raced to the side door of the barn, threw it open, and called for his babies. They tumbled out, each one tripping over the others to reach him first. Their bleats were deafening. They wanted their daddy.
“Dolly! You’re supposed to be a lady, so don’t go knocking down Tammy. It’s unladylike. She didn’t mean to get in your way. Loretta, stop pouting. You’re lovely. Reba, please don’t nibble.”
We watched as the goats fell over themselves playing in the grass. It was impossible not to laugh at their silly jumping and running around. Jasper was captivating. His giggles matched their bleats and created a cacophony I should’ve hated but found myself smiling at instead.
I was so busy watching Jasper play with the goats that it took a second to realize he’d started talking to me instead of them.
“Do you have dinner plans?” Jasper asked. His face was open, and for once, it didn’t feel like his usual flirting. I didn’t know whether I was disappointed or not, but I refused to think about it.
“I’m not much of a cook. Figured I’d head into town and get something.” No way I was gonna tell him my plan was to heat up a frozen pizza.
